INVITRO CLONAL PROPAGATION OF TEA (CAMELLIA-SINENSIS (L) KUNTZE,O.)

A system for in vitro clonal propagation has been developed in tea plants. Shoots obtained from primary explants were induced from terminal buds and axillary buds of mature field-grown plants. Cultures were initiated from both types of explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 10% coconut milk (CM), 200 mg l-1 of yeast extract (YE), 1.4-mu-M indoleacetic acid (IAA) and 17.8-mu-M benzyladenine (BA). The shoot tips were multiplied on 1/2 strength MS medium containing 10% CM, 2.9-mu-M IAA and 17.8-mu-M BA. The larger shoots were separated after multiplication and rooted on 1/2 MS medium supplemented with 11.4-mu-M ascorbic acid and 34.5-mu-M indolebutyric acid (IBA). A pretreatment of the plants with an aqueous solution of 493-mu-M IBA greatly increased the frequency of rooting. More than 60% of the rooted plants have been transferred to soil successfully.